COLUMBUS, INDIANA (The Republic) - A federal judge has overturned the U.S. Forest Service's authorization of logging in certain parts of the Rio Grande National Forest and has ordered more environmental analyses of the project.

The Forest Service had said in 2008 that logging could proceed on 3,436 acres of Handkerchief Mesa in the forest in southwest Colorado. University of Denver law students appealed on behalf of the groups WildEarth Guardians and Colorado Wild.

The groups were concerned because runoff from the area feeds the headwaters of the Rio Grande River.

In a ruling Thursday, a judge agreed the Forest Service violated federal environmental laws by failing to take a "hard look" at potential effects and plans to mitigate the effects.